Is N gauge good for a budget household layout?

[william.martin]

Hi there, I have been wondering if it is worth selling up my OO gauge model railway and investing in N gauge. The reason is so I have more room to create more detailed scenes on a dining room table (meaning that I can't have a huge layout.)
I hope that you could give some advice as I would not be best pleased if I sold my OO gauge bought N but then regretted selling my OO gauge.
Kind regards Will.

 

[Cowley]

Hi there, I have been wondering if it is worth selling up my OO gauge model railway and investing in N gauge. The reason is so I have more room to create more detailed scenes on a dining room table (meaning that I can't have a huge layout.)
I hope that you could give some advice as I would not be best pleased if I sold my OO gauge bought N but then regretted selling my OO gauge.
Kind regards Will.

That’s funny because I was just posting you a message in this thread as you were starting this one.

What sort of size is the table William?

 

[Iskra]

Personally, I’m not sure modelling on a budget is about gauge, but about self-discipline and having a clearly defined scope as to what era and area you are depicting and sticking to it.

 

[Trainlog]

Hi there, I have been wondering if it is worth selling up my OO gauge model railway and investing in N gauge. The reason is so I have more room to create more detailed scenes on a dining room table (meaning that I can't have a huge layout.)
I hope that you could give some advice as I would not be best pleased if I sold my OO gauge bought N but then regretted selling my OO gauge.
Kind regards Will.

It depends how dedicated you are to representing Standard gauge. 00 will always have the benefit of so much stuff to go with it, reliable enough for maitainaince and looks good when running round the track.

If you want to try something a bit different.... Narrow gauges will always have some good benefits with 009 taking off and has been very impressive with Bachmann and Katos/pecos entries into the scale plus you wont lose any buildings or scenery. 016 is a gauge that i reckon will take off soon as there is the Dapol L&B stuff coming soon and it can allow for you to enjoy an O gauge but with the benefit of it taking up little space.

N is fiddly and by looking at some of the reviews there are some locos such as the Graham farish 2mt that arent brilliantly designed for going round corners, but there is a lot of good stuff in there with Dapol and some Graham farish stuff that is well designed.

One last thought... Have you considered the new TT gauge that Hornby has brought out? its a good halfway point between the 2 and will potentially mean the best of both worlds.

 

[Gloster]

If you already have a large proportion of your wants in OO, together with a good selection of track and other parts, you may find that selling them does not realise enough for a similar selection of N-gauge stuff. If most of your stuff does not really reflect your current intentions and you will still need to buy a lot of bits in OO, then a new start is more reasonable. A skim through some adverts suggests that N-gauge is only a bit cheaper.

 

[Cowley]

If you already have a large proportion of your wants in OO, together with a good selection of track and other parts, you may find that selling them does not realise enough for a similar selection of N-gauge stuff. If most of your stuff does not really reflect your current intentions and you will still need to buy a lot of bits in OO, then a new start is more reasonable. A skim through some adverts suggests that N-gauge is only a bit cheaper.

Yes there’s definitely not a huge saving changing scales. Also as pointed out before by @reddragon in this section, you end up spending as much anyway because you have room for more stock!

Personally I’d dipped my toe in the water a couple times before I properly jumped in. Some of the N gauge models are truly superb now, but you have to treat the scale differently to 00 and use the size of it to play to its strengths.

 

[william.martin]

That’s funny because I was just posting you a message in this thread as you were starting this one.

What sort of size is the table William?

I can't measure at the moment because I am having a bit of a sort out though it can seat 2 on either side and 1 either end.
I would say it is about 80x40 inches.

Yes there’s definitely not a huge saving changing scales. Also as pointed out before by @reddragon in this section, you end up spending as much anyway because you have room for more stock!

Personally I’d dipped my toe in the water a couple times before I properly jumped in. Some of the N gauge models are truly superb now, but you have to treat the scale differently to 00 and use the size of it to play to its strengths.

I doubt that my set would make much as it is not at all based on any real life scenes and is mostly a cluster of starter sets joint together.
I have as follows:
1) Unknown starter kit with an 0-4-0 pug from the late 1980's
2) Intercity 125 liveried class 43 starter set from the 70's
3) Smokey Joe 0-4-0 pug
4) Starter kit including an unnamed and un- numbered 0-4-0 pug (notice a theme?)
5) A arriva trains Wales liveried class 153
6) First great Western liveried class 08xxx John.
7)A single ATW liveried MK2
8) About 15 1950's style freight wagons.

I have a variety of platforms and scenery that would be too much to write although would only make little money.

If I was to make an N gauge layout it would probably be based on a station that has not changed a lot since the 60's so I would not have to do much to convert it from a 1960's to a 2022 scene.

 

[reddragon]

I can't measure at the moment because I am having a bit of a sort out though it can seat 2 on either side and 1 either end.
I would say it is about 80x40 inches.


I doubt that my set would make much as it is not at all based on any real life scenes and is mostly a cluster of starter sets joint together.
I have as follows:
1) Unknown starter kit with an 0-4-0 pug from the late 1980's
2) Intercity 125 liveried class 43 starter set from the 70's
3) Smokey Joe 0-4-0 pug
4) Starter kit including an unnamed and un- numbered 0-4-0 pug (notice a theme?)
5) A arriva trains Wales liveried class 153
6) First great Western liveried class 08xxx John.
7)A single ATW liveried MK2
8) About 15 1950's style freight wagons.

I have a variety of platforms and scenery that would be too much to write although would only make little money.

If I was to make an N gauge layout it would probably be based on a station that has not changed a lot since the 60's so I would not have to do much to convert it from a 1960's to a 2022 scene.

There's always TT scale?